The writer, producer, and director of of the success Penitentiaryfilm trilogy, Fanaka was born Walter Gordon on September 6, 1942 to Robert L. and Beatrice Gordon in
Jackson, Mississippi
.

In 1971, Fanaka was accepted into the film school at UCLA. During his years at UCLA Film School (including study in both the undergraduate and graduate programs), Fanaka received competitive academic grants including a Ford Foundation Grant, Rockefeller Grant, UCLA Chancellor's Grant, UCLA Black Studies Center Grant, New York State Council for the Arts Grant and an Independent Filmmaker Grant from the American Film Institute. Fanaka took his undergraduate degree summa cum laude and his Master's degree with a straight-A average.

In 1979, he released the first Penitentiary film, starring Leon Issac Kennedy. According to Todd McCarthy of Daily Variety and Turner Classic Movies' Web Site (TCM.com), Penitentiary became the most successful independent film of 1980 at the box office. The film received excellent reviews from such major newspapers as the San Francisco Chronicle, Daily Variety, and the Los Angeles Times. Gertrude Gipson, the entertainment editor of
America
's top black-owned newspaper, The Los Angeles Sentinel, called Penitentiary "Jamaa Fanaka's brutal masterpiece of violent prison life."

A film and video professional for 18 years. Maxie is a former employee of BET and the author of the IFILM DV Filmmaker's Handbook. He is the writer, producer, director, co-star BMORE HACKS and the classic hip-hop documentary film Paper Chasers, a co-production with the Independent Film Channel. To date, he has interviewed more than 150 media artist, executives, and entrepreneurs including Ludacris, Damon Dash, Flavor Flav. He has most recently directed the reality TV show Houston Ink. He is also the co-founder Third Cousins Mediaand the African Film Club .